Coming Out
by Felis
Summary: Natalie Black notices her seventeen-year-old son, Sirius seems out of sorts. Implied slash SB/RL
1. Default Chapter

Summary: Implied slash SB/RL. During Christmas vacation, Natalie Black notices that her seventeen-year-old son, Sirius, seems bothered by something.  
  
  
  
Disclaimer: This particular wizard world is owned by JK Rowling. Natalie and Altair are mine.  
  
Coming Out  
  
Natalie Black smiled to herself. The star-christened men in this family could be so clueless. For generations they'd been scandalously intelligent and criminally handsome, but they occasionally suffered from gargantuan blind spots regarding things blatantly obvious to the rest of the world. That is, until the mystery jumped out of the mists and bit them sharply on the nose. It was obvious to her that her son was fretting about something. She had recognized it from the moment Sirius had stepped off the train yesterday when she noticed the slight tension line between his brows. And how forced his conversation had been through last night's dinner, with none of his usual laughter. And how impervious he seemed to the festive Christmas atmosphere. And tonight, the way his gaze settled into middle distance, unless he made a visible effort to look engaged in the conversation.  
  
Which he did now in startled response to his father's question. "Nothing's bothering me, Dad. I'm fine."  
  
It had taken Altair Black an entire day to sense that his son was laboring under some distress. Now that his keen mind had figured it out, he clearly wasn't buying Sirius' self-assessment. "Is that why you're sitting there shredding that dinner roll into confetti?"  
  
Well, perhaps not so clueless after all, Natalie mused. On the other hand, the evidence on Sirius' plate of a meal barely touched and a warm, flaky roll dismembered was the prandial equivalent of sending up distress flares.  
  
  
  
Sirius dropped his hands into his lap and eyed the mutilated bread. "I guess I'm not very hungry tonight," he said quietly.  
  
Altair glanced at her, one ebony brow cocked, silently asking if she had any idea of the cause of their son's malaise. With a faint hint of a shrug, Natalie conveyed her ignorance. She followed that with the barest shake of her head, warning him against pursuing his questioning. The signal flew right by him and he returned to his probing.  
  
"There isn't anything.ah.untoward at school that we need to know about, is there, son?"  
  
'Oh, no. Not the Snape incident,' Natalie thought, sighing at her husband's sudden reversal into obtuseness. That uproar had taken place last spring, in Sirius' sixth year. 'No, that's not what's bothering him at all,' Natalie decided, watching the man-child across the table suddenly regain his poise. His spine straightened, his chin lifted and he stared straight into his father's eyes. "If you're hinting about Snape, I've stayed as far away from him as I can since.since all that. And I'll continue to avoid him. If anything happens, it will be because he comes after me."  
  
His tone was quiet, respectful, yet forceful. He was telling them he would do his best to prevent further confrontations, but, at the same time, he would defend himself if need be. She understood that, and, she knew, so did her husband. They also knew that Sirius, under strict instructions from Albus Dumbledore, had not told them every single detail about that night. Sirius had done something to endanger Severus Snape's life. But, somehow, her son's close friend, Remus Lupin, had also been victimized.  
  
Sirius had received harsh punishment from the Headmaster, including a month's suspension from school. Natalie had never seen her son as saddened and distressed and angry at himself as he was during those weeks. Yet, she was sure that no official punishment came close to equaling the hurt Sirius had suffered from the obvious strain in his relationship with Remus. Every time owl post from school arrived, rays of hope would spark from her son's eyes. And as soon as Sirius recognized the writing was not Remus' fine hand, he would unsuccessfully struggle to hide his feelings of utter dejection. Not once did Remus contact him during his suspension. However, when Sirius returned to Hogwarts, they reconciled. That entire awful episode was in the past. Natalie was positive it was not the source of her son's current unease.  
  
Altair tossed out another thought, like a blind man reaching for support he can't see. "Not having problems with a special young lady, are you?"  
  
Sirius now looked affronted. "No!" He said in sharp denial, although he couldn't hide the slight blush suffusing his cheeks. "Everything's fine. I'm just tired, that's all." The gaze he turned towards his mother had more than a hint of desperation in it. "May I be excused?"  
  
"Yes, dear," Natalie said calmly before her husband inadvertently resumed trampling on his son's feelings. She saw the mildly miffed expression on Altair's face, and her son's quick flash of gratitude. Sirius began clearing the table, but her maternal instincts told her to complete her rescue. "I'll take care of it, Siri." With mumbled thanks, he fled from the kitchen.  
  
Natalie turned to see her husband's Caribbean blue eyes twinkling at her in mingled exasperation and amusement. "So, do you know more than you're saying about that?" A nod of his head indicated the vacant place at the table. "Or are you simply taking pity on him?"  
  
  
  
She laughed softly, warmed by the love she felt for these complicated men with whom she shared her life. "I haven't a clue as to what's bothering him. But I know him well enough to realize that he's working up to telling us something. Pushing him now will only make him close in on himself."  
  
"I'd be willing to bet that this has something to do with some romantic entanglement. You saw how he blushed."  
  
"He hasn't mentioned anyone special in his letters."  
  
"Maybe he's fancied someone from afar, never did anything about it, and now she's seeing another boy."  
  
"Mmmm." Natalie was non-committal. That didn't feel quite right to her.  
  
Altair suddenly moaned softly. "Oh, no, you don't suppose he's gotten someone pregnant, do you? Maybe she's insisting on marriage and he doesn't love her or -."  
  
  
  
She looked at him sharply. "Well, Merry Christmas to you, too! Are you going to spend the entire evening dreaming up dire scenarios? Let it be. He'll tell us when he's ready."  
  
He grimaced as he rose, flicking his wand to send a parade of dishes on their way to the sink. "You're always so calm in the face of potential catastrophe. It's probably why you have no wrinkles and I do."  
  
This time she laughed out loud, the same sparkling waterfall of a laugh that had first caught his attention over thirty years ago. He loved it, as he loved everything about her. Pulling her to her feet, Altair wrapped his arms around her and kissed her deeply. "I only hope our addled offspring finds someone in his life who makes him as happy as you make me."  
  
"*I* only hope he's not eavesdropping, dearest. Most sons would not treasure hearing their fathers refer to them as either addled or potential catastrophes. I won't even go into the unwed father bit."  
  
He tilted his head and blinked at her with that challenging, flirty expression that had originally drawn her to him. "Come on, Nat. Stay on my side. If you join forces with the boy, I'll never win. You've got to admit he has a sterling knack for complicating our lives."  
  
"I prefer to think that he enriches us with his untamable high spirits and his unfettered imagination."  
  
Altair hooted. "Let me write that down. I want to be able to remind you the next time a Hogwarts owl comes tapping at our window with yet another disciplinary missive."  
  
"Don't arch your brows like that, love. That's why you have wrinkles and I don't," Natalie replied sweetly.  
  
"If that's the case, I suppose you'll get rid of all those potions and lotions and creams that clutter up the bathroom."  
  
She bounced a roll off his head.  
  
Christmas Eve dawned, with all of its inherent last-minute bustling, as the family prepared to welcome friends and relatives for a large gathering on Christmas day. All three Blacks shot through the house like comets, taking care of final details.  
  
And, all too soon, Christmas was over, leaving only the detritus of shredded wrapping paper, dirty dishes and leftovers. Both Natalie and Altair noticed Sirius' much-improved mood over the previous two days and thought he had come out of his funk.  
  
The day after Christmas, it was back. Natalie saw the preoccupied, aimless way her son wandered through the house. The only time he seemed happy was when he sat reading the letter that had arrived from Remus Lupin. Sirius' face had glowed with a radiant, inner light when he saw whose owl was demanding admittance to the kitchen. But, that delight was short-lived.  
  
Altair was locked in his study, finishing the year-end financial reports of the family's charitable foundations, which he headed. If they were not submitted on time, the Gringotts legal staff got horribly cranky. No one wanted irate Goblins pounding on the door on New Year's morning, so, Natalie didn't disturb him. But, she was beginning to feel a twinge of worry. She weighed various options in her mind on how best to approach her son. However, he surprised her at dinner that night.  
  
"I need to talk to you both about something," Sirius announced as they finished eating. He had the look of someone facing the gallows.  
  
"What's been troubling you, son?" Altair asked gently.  
  
Sirius' eyes flicked back and forth between them several times. He finally drew a deep breath, and then lurched to his feet. "Can we go into the study?"  
  
"Of course -"  
  
Without waiting to hear more, Sirius headed down the hall to his father's sanctuary with his parents following in his wake. He didn't see the worried glances they exchanged, which were well hidden by the time the three stopped in the middle of the study. After a short silence Altair asked, "May we sit down?"  
  
"Sure." Sirius seemed surprised that his father would be daft enough to ask permission to sit in his own study. But, that seemed to relax Sirius a bit. They all sat. Silently. Once again, Sirius inhaled an impossibly deep breath and pushed his wayward hair back out of his face. Briefly, he gnawed on his lower lip. And then suddenly, he spoke.  
  
"I.don't know how you're going to react to what I tell you. I hope.I hope you can accept it, even if I disappoint you. Please just remember that I'm not trying to make your lives difficult. But.but, this isn't something I can change. It's who I am."  
  
He paused and the look on his face made Natalie's breath catch in her throat. For just a moment, she saw an innocent vulnerability, a reflection of the young boy her son used to be. That beautiful, exuberant, laughing child who, each day, slipped farther and farther away into the past. She felt a sudden, keen loss, knowing the child would soon be gone forever. She skillfully kept her expression neutral as the boy vanished, replaced by the determined young man.  
  
"I'm sure this will be a shock to you, and, please believe me, I'm sorry if it hurts you. I never meant it to, but.well.I'm gay."  
  
Altair's unconsciously rigid posture relaxed. Natalie felt she could breathe again. Sirius warily watched them, not sure whether they were building up to an explosion or whether, perhaps they hadn't understood what he had just said.  
  
Suddenly Altair left his chair to sit next to his son on the couch. "This is what's been preying on your thoughts since you got home? How to tell us about this?"  
  
Sirius nodded.  
  
Altair smiled affectionately at his son. "My foolish boy. Oh, Sirius, did you honestly think we would be angry with you?"  
  
"I.I didn't know how you'd feel. I figured you probably both wanted a bunch of grandchildren and all, and I thought you might feel cheated. Or you might think I was just going through a phase or." His voice died out as they sat still, searching each other's expression. Each seemed genuinely puzzled by the other's reaction.  
  
Natalie felt a smile begin to tug at her lips. 'Clueless. Both of them.' She rose and came to sit on her son's other side, taking his hand between both of hers. "Sirius, what we want for you above anything else is happiness, and that includes finding the great love of your life. We don't care what gender that person happens to be. As long as you respect and love and support each other, that's all that matters."  
  
"Yes," Altair agreed. "And, should you want children, you and your partner can always adopt. But, that's up to you." He wrapped an arm tightly around his son's shoulders. "There is nothing, Sirius, nothing you can do, that will drive a wedge between us. We'll always love you, no matter what."  
  
Sirius sighed in obvious relief at his parents' unhesitating acceptance. "Thanks," he said. One brow cocked quizzically. "Now I feel like an absolute idiot for being so anxious."  
  
Natalie ruffled his hair. "Go with the feeling."  
  
"Mum!"  
  
Later, Altair lay in bed watching his wife's finishing touches to her nightly routine. "Nat, you don't think he's still a virgin, do you?"  
  
"Sirius?" She paused, considering. "Actually, I'd rather not speculate on his sex life."  
  
"So you think he has one."  
  
She slid into bed, grinning mischievously. "Let's ask him detailed questions at dinner tomorrow. How many partners he's had. What was his first time was like."  
  
"Natalie! We couldn't possibly tease him about this. Although, it might be worth it just to see him look utterly mortified."  
  
They chuckled softly at their son's expense.  
  
Just before sleep claimed her, Natalie recalled the radiant expression on her son's face, how his eyes had sparkled, when he received the letter from Remus. Ah, now *that* felt exactly right. Natalie, as usual, was several steps ahead of her men, but decided to keep her knowledge to herself.  
  
TBC 


	2. Chapter 2 The Visit

(A/N: The slash is more obvious in this chapter, although it's not anywhere near the NC-17 it originally had.)  
  
The Visit  
  
For the fifth time in the last twenty minutes, Natalie Black had to re- measure one of her potion ingredients. The Burn-Healing Potion was simple enough to prepare, but it required extreme precision. If done incorrectly, the potion would aggravate burns, not help heal them. She needed to concentrate, but she kept losing count of how much of what ingredient she had measured out. It was a good thing she followed the precaution of measuring each ingredient into its own separate container before adding it to the mixture. If not, she would have already ruined this batch.  
  
Pouring the dish of aloe sap back into the bottle, she started over, mentally screaming out the number of tablespoons, while trying to ignore the rapid, insistent, utterly maddening tattoo the heels of her son's boots were beating on the floor.  
  
'Six and three quarters.' Thank everything holy, that was the last ingredient. She carefully poured the liquid into her cauldron, while stirring rapidly. Now she could let it simmer. She turned to look at Sirius, who sat at the kitchen table, staring vacantly out the window. He was absolutely motionless except for his furiously tapping feet. She briefly considered throwing a Jelly Legs jinx his way.  
  
"You know, if you're that interested in tap dancing, perhaps you should consider taking lessons," she commented dryly.  
  
Sirius looked at her blankly, his feet blessedly still. "What?"  
  
She stared pointedly at his boots.  
  
"Oh. Sorry," he said, realization dawning.  
  
"Not that I'm trying to chase you out of my kitchen, but wouldn't it make more sense to wait for Remus by the fireplace in the study? That's where he'll show up, right?"  
  
Sirius grinned sheepishly. "Dad chased me out of the study. Said he couldn't concentrate on his numbers with me squirming about like a pile of maggots on rotting flesh."  
  
"Eeew! Sirius!" She winced, groaning at the image.  
  
His smile broadened. "*He* made it up, not me. I'm never that crass."  
  
She was about to retort when they both heard the door of the study open and Remus Lupin's voice in conversation with Altair Black.  
  
Sirius leaped to his feet and bolted from the kitchen. Natalie smiled, her suspicions confirmed.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Remus dropped his suitcase on the bed in the guest room. "I need to hang a few things in the - mmmph!"  
  
His words were smothered by a hot, ravenous mouth that flattened his lips against his teeth. A pair of strong arms swept him tight to the firm body he'd missed over the last week. Without conscious thought, Remus' hands flew up to bury themselves in the rich, silky hair, twisting locks of black silk against his palms. He kissed back, all thoughts of clothing banished under the spell of the dancing tongue invading his mouth and the muscular thigh rubbing against his groin.  
  
Breathless, they broke the kiss, but not the hold they had on each other.  
  
"Happy to see me, Moony?" Sirius asked conversationally. His hand slid between them, replacing the firm thigh, its movements much more precise and concentrated. It found what it sought. "You're quite the eager boy, aren't you?"  
  
"Ohhhh," Remus breathed, trying unsuccessfully to recover his equilibrium, lost in his lover's playful and single-minded assault. His pants were suddenly too tight. His hips seemed to think they could wriggle free of the binding cloth by thrusting towards that talented, clever hand. And, mmm, Sirius tasted so good.  
  
There was a soft thump as Remus' shoulders and back met the wall. He hadn't even realized that Sirius was propelling him backwards, gently pushing and nudging with his hands, his hips, his thirsty mouth. Remus had no choice, really, except to surrender to his lover's whim. It would be a sweet surrender, he knew, tingling under the touch of those magic fingers. But, he wouldn't go down without a fight, he determined, taking firm hold of Sirius' head, forcing him to keep still while his own tongue explored the warm cavern of Sirius' mouth.  
  
But, those hands! Insistent, demanding, petting, teasing hands. Squeezing and stroking the swelling in his pants, lightly undoing the snap and coaxing the zipper down. All the while their mouths feasted and licked and sucked on one another.  
  
Remus was left gasping into the empty air, as the ebony head slipped down past his chest. Sirius dropped to his knees, his face leaning into loosened clothing. Remus couldn't stifle his moans. Sirius looked up at him, grinning with anticipatory lust. "Shhhh." Sirius whispered. "Don't get too loud."  
  
All Remus' senses swelled to overload. God, nothing was better than this! After a few minutes, Sirius rose to his feet. He leaned in for a kiss but before their lips met, intrusive sounds were heard.  
  
"Sirius!" Altair called out, his footsteps getting louder as he approached the bedroom. Licking his lips one last time, Sirius strolled through the doorway, casually intercepting his father. In a blushing panic, Remus scrambled madly to put his clothing in order. Then he grabbed some shirts from his suitcase and sprang lightly to the closet as father and son appeared, making plans for the next few days.  
  
"That's alright with you, isn't it, Remus?" Sirius asked, nonchalantly lounging against the wall.  
  
"I'm sorry, I didn't hear what you were discussing," Remus replied, fumbling with a tangle of hangers.  
  
"My Dad suggested that we all go down to London on Wednesday rather than tomorrow. He needs to go to his office to clear up some details before he does his final year-end song and dance with the Gringotts representatives."  
  
"Right," Altair continued, cocking an eyebrow at his son's choice of words. "On Wednesday, you boys can amuse yourself in Diagon Alley in the morning while I deal with the Goblins, and we'll meet up later to head to the Tate. Remus, I thought Sirius mentioned that you wanted to go to that Celtic art exhibit at the British Museum. We'd probably have time to do that, too."  
  
Remus grinned with pure delight. "Yes, I do want to see that! It ties in with a project I'm doing in my Runes class. That would be great!"  
  
Altair smiled at him. "It's nice to know that there is someone studious in Sirius' life." He glanced at his son, who was also smiling fondly at Remus, but who suddenly caught his father's implication.  
  
"Wait a minute!" Sirius snorted indignantly. "You said yourself you were proud of my grades! Just because I don't need to spend a minimum of six hours a day with my nose in a book -"  
  
"I'm just teasing," Altair laughed. His face took on an unexpected conspiratorial look. "Your mum will be out all day tomorrow, too. She said something about starting to research her next book, but then muttered vague and frightening things about 'after Christmas sales.'" He shuddered. "So, you'll be left to your own devices tomorrow." Altair turned to leave, one hand reaching out to squeeze Sirius' shoulder affectionately. "I'm sure you'll keep yourselves occupied." Smiling enigmatically, his vibrant blue eyes swept over both boys as he left the room.  
  
"Hmmm." Sirius stared briefly at the empty doorway as his father's footsteps receded down the hall. Seeing Remus questioning look, he crossed to the bed and perched at the edge of the mattress. "I told them."  
  
"Told who what?"  
  
"My parents. I told them I'm gay."  
  
"Oh." Remus came to sit next to Sirius, weighing this news in his mind. "They're okay with it, right?"  
  
"Yeah, they're fine. They told me what they want most is for me to be happy, and find the great love of my life, no matter who that might be." He looked into the warm hazel eyes. "I didn't tell them that I've already found him."  
  
Remus leaned over to place a long, sweet kiss on his lover's lips. "Am I? The love of your life?"  
  
Sirius nodded, all traces of lasciviousness gone. Remus kissed him again. "You're mine, too, Paddy."  
  
He rose to finish unpacking. Sirius watched the smooth, spare movements of Remus' hands and body. He loved the werewolf's elegant bearing, made all the more appealing because Remus didn't see it in himself. It was completely natural, innate and wonderfully attractive to Sirius.  
  
As he watched, he saw Remus' lips twitch and slowly curve into a wide smile. The kaleidoscopic eyes twinkled. "I think your Dad knows about us."  
  
Sirius frowned slightly. "Really? I'm not sure. Although he was wearing an odd expression when he left, wasn't he? And that comment about being sure we'd keep ourselves occupied tomorrow." He stared at Remus, somewhat nonplussed. "You really think he figured it out?"  
  
"Well, if you wanted to keep it a secret you shouldn't have been standing there with that completely goofy grin on your face. The one James calls the 'lovesick adoration face.'"  
  
"I wasn't!"  
  
"You were! And your Dad saw it. He's not an idiot, you know."  
  
A vaguely horrified expression spread over Sirius' handsome features. "Oh, God. So you think he was implying that we'll have plenty of time to be alone to shag ourselves to exhaustion tomorrow?"  
  
Remus shrugged, grinning happily at Sirius' squirming discomfort. He pulled Sirius upright and into his arms. "Are you embarrassed about me?"  
  
"No! Of course not! It's just the idea that my parents might know or speculate about.about me having sex. I don't want them talking about.I don't.Argh! I don't even want to think about it!"  
  
Remus burst into laughter at the look on Sirius' face. It was hard to reconcile this suddenly uncomfortable boy with the hot, handsome stud who, not ten minutes ago, had eagerly fallen to his knees and brought Remus to orgasm with his mouth. "You're quite fetching when you're mortified, you know."  
  
"Oh, shut up! Next time I'll let him come in the room while you stand there making a mad grab for the pants puddled around your feet!"  
  
The picture made them both laugh.  
  
After lunch, the boys bundled up against the cold and started trudging through the snow towards town. They took the shortcut through the trees and up over the hill behind the Blacks' house. Altair watched their progress through the kitchen window. They hadn't walked more than fifty yards before a mutual explosion of laughter rang out, and suddenly both boys broke into a run, scooping up handfuls of snow and tossing snowballs at each other as fast as they possibly could.  
  
"We haven't had a good snowball fight in years, Nat. Maybe we should challenge the boys when they come back. The losers will be sentenced to clean up after dinner."  
  
Natalie stepped up next to him, just in time to see the teens disappear, hidden by the boles and branches of the trees. "I'll agree, but only if they look worn out when they come back. We're still relatively young, but I'm afraid they might take us. It would be bad enough to lose to them, but it would be worse to have Sirius gloat about it for days on end!"  
  
Altair smiled. "Oh, I think he has more important things on his mind than lording his snowball skills over us."  
  
"Do you know something I don't?" She asked inquisitively.  
  
"Don't you think they should have appeared at the top of the hill by now?" He said, in an apparent non sequitur.  
  
"Maybe they found something interesting to explore. Animal tracks or something."  
  
"Or maybe they realized that they have a bit of privacy in the trees."  
  
"What are you suggesting? Drugs? Alcohol?" Natalie wasn't sure where her husband's thoughts had taken him.  
  
"They have the most powerful drug in the world with them." His expression held such warmth and affection that she was momentarily confused. He grinned happily. "They have love."  
  
Natalie smiled back at him. "You noticed."  
  
"Sirius is usually quite masterful at keeping a straight face, but way he looks at Remus is unmistakable."  
  
"He *is* pretty obvious, isn't he? Talk about wearing your heart on your sleeve. And I think Remus returns his affection, don't you?"  
  
"Oh, that's a safe bet. Remus lit up like a Christmas tree when Sirius came bounding along to greet him. And, you should have seen them upstairs before lunch. I'm quite sure I interrupted something in that bedroom. Sirius was doing his best to look casual, but he's blatantly smitten with young Mr. Lupin. Who, may I add, also tried to act natural, but his charming blush gave him away."  
  
"So you think the reason we haven't seen them at the top of the hill is because they're silly enough to be snogging each other senseless in the cold and the snow?"  
  
"Of course! They're young, male, and hormonally challenged. It's the perfect recipe for idiotic behavior."  
  
They stood silently, waiting. After what seemed like a long time, the figures of the boys appeared at the top of the hill. They were walking side by side, and even though they were a fair distance away, the Blacks were quite sure they were holding hands. Sirius stopped suddenly and pointed to something. The two stood shoulder to shoulder, looking whatever it was that had caught Sirius' eye. Then, as the dark-haired boy turned to lead the way down the other side of the hill, Remus reached out and grabbed his arm. A second later, they were locked in a tight embrace, the passion of their kiss obvious to the two adults observing from the window.  
  
"We shouldn't be spying on them," Altair murmured, turning his back on the tableau.  
  
A thought suddenly struck Natalie. She said brightly, "Well, at least this gets rid of one worry."  
  
"And that is.?" He sensed from her tone that he was about to receive a dig.  
  
"You don't have to lose sleep at night thinking your son may have gotten someone pregnant!"  
  
Altair grinned sheepishly. Natalie continued gleefully. "Could you have been any more wrong? You were way off base on that one!"  
  
"Yes, yes. Don't rub it in."  
  
"I'm completely dumbstruck at how obtuse you can be!"  
  
"Enough, woman!" He grabbed her and held her tight against him, a wicked smile lighting his features. "I can think of better things you could be doing with that mouth besides taunting me."  
  
"Like what?" Her grin was equally provocative.  
  
"Like this." His mouth closed on hers; stilling her voice with a kiss full of the warmth and passion they had shared for years.  
  
"Let's go upstairs."  
  
END 


End file.
